If you’re a teenage girl in Dallas County who has a baby, your chances of graduating from high school are not great, and your chances of a well-paying career are even slimmer. And if you’re among the 1 in 3 children in Dallas who grow up poor, statistics show you’ll likely stay that way.

These facts are more than just scare tactics. They are the sobering reality for thousands of teens in this county whose bad choices stifle their futures and limit their hopes. And it matters to all of us because the health care and social services required to take care theses young people and their children cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

It all explains why city and school officials, along with community organizations, are putting so much emphasis on preventing teen pregnancies. Though the nation’s teen birth rate has steadily dropped over decades, Dallas still has the highest rate of any major city in Texas. One Dallas zip code has five times the national average.

It can’t come soon enough. We’ve been talking about these alarming numbers for years now. It’s past time to do something about them.

Veronica Whitehead, the North Texas Alliance’s program director, tells us that the effort involves frank and accurate messages to girls, boys and their parents. The plan is to marshal schools, community groups, churches and nonprofits to provide fact-based education and be a conduit for affordable healthcare and other resources.

A big part of the campaign, Whitehead says, is to teach parents how to talk to their own kids about sex and the repercussions of unplanned pregnancies.

“We have to create awareness first and show how there’s a role for everyone in our community to combat this,” she said.

We know that effective programs can help. Dallas ISD has integrated health and human sexuality courses under its science curriculum to focus on overall wellness, human growth and development, including how to avoid risky behaviors.

And if a student does get pregnant, the district provides case managers to the student with the goal of keeping their schooling on track so they can graduate. The district counts it as a promising sign that the number of students taking advantage of such pregnancy related services dropped 30 percent from 311 students in May 2018 to 219 in January of this year.

Perhaps it is. But the overall numbers in the county are troubling, and Dallas needs to have a sense of urgency about turning around these teen pregnancy. It’s got a good plan to target the most at-risk parts of the city. Now, it requires action.

This editorial was written by the editorial board and serves as the voice and opinion of The Dallas Morning News.

Teen Birth Rates

U.S. Teen Birth Rate: 22/1000

Texas Teen Birth Rate: 35/1,000 (5th highest in the nation)

Dallas County Teen Birth Rate: 39/1000

Selected Dallas Zip Codes: 53-123/1,000

Source: The North Texas Alliance to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy in Teens, Texas Department of Health and Human Services